Osseous implant substances are used to fill interdental alveolar bone defects to effect bone grafts. These osseous graft materials are granular solids. The present technology for delivering osseous implant substances is to place the material in a sterile dappen dish and fill a delrin amalgam carrier from the dish. The osseous implant substance is then inserted into the graft site with the amalgam carrier. This process is slow, wasteful and difficult for the dentist and assistant as well. This technique requires many time consuming repetitions of the transfers on large or multiple grafts. The excessive time consumed in this method allows for slow hemorrhage of the graft site well before it is obturated, making firm condensation of the area more difficult and less effective. The surgeon's freedom to suction the defect area is curtailed on the transfer with an amalgam carrier because suction will remove any previously placed granular implant substances.
Various syringe devices have been devised for use in dentistry. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,754,590 issued to M. J. Cohen on Sept. 20, 1954. However, this device by Cohen would be ineffective to dispense the granular solid material that composes the osseous implant substance because of the inconsistent lumen dimensions; the granular material would pack at the change in lumen diameter and would not be expelled. Another such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,505,028 issued to H. F. Boeger on Apr. 25, 1950. Again, this device cannot be used to dispense a granular material either because of the large reservoir going into the small dispensing outlet. There is no way at all to use this for a granular substance such as the osseous implant material. Furthermore, it would be difficult to use the invention shown by Boeger to reach the hard to reach areas of the gums because of the long distance from the tip of the needle to the body of the syringe. A final reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 683,075 issued to A. Schneider on Sept. 24, 1901. The curved outlets from the syringe body would prevent the dispensing of any type of granular material. Furthermore, these outlets are too big to be used to insert into the small surgical incisions employed in dental surgery.
In any implant syringe it is necessary for the syringe to be the correct cross-sectional diameter to fit easily into graft sites through very small incisions. Smaller incisions are advantageous as they reduce the loss of implant substances after the procedure. The glass syringe presently used for edentulous augmentations is available in a variety of sizes, the smallest of which is 7 mm in diameter which is much too large to fit into most interdental osseous graft sites. It is also important for the implant syringe to contain a larger volume of implant substance than the capacity of an amalgam carrier to allow complete filling of osseous defects before the ever-present slow hemorrhage fills the defect. The implant syringe needs a curved nozzle to enable the surgeon an easier method to graft posterior and hard to reach areas. Preferably the syringe must have an outlet cap to prevent the spillage of implant materials and allow more than one barrel to be prepared at a time prior to the procedure which will reduce the procedure time ordinarily taken by reloading the amalgam carrier. Because no such satisfactory dental implant syringe exists serious problems arise due to the shortcomings of the prior art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an osseous implant syringe having a cross-sectional diameter that fits easily into graft sites through very small incisions. Smaller incisions are advantageous to reduce the amount of loss of the implant substances after the procedure.
It is another object of this invention to provide for a larger volume of implant substances than amalgam carriers which are now conventionally utilized. The greater volume allows complete filling of osseous defects before the ever-present slow hemorrhage fills the defect.
A further object of this invention is to provide a syringe for osseous implant applications that provides a curved delivery nozzle such that it is much easier for the surgeon to graft posterior and hard to reach areas.
It is also an object to provide a syringe constructed such that removable front and rear barrel caps allow one or more barrels to be prepared before the procedure starts which reduces the procedure time considerably and permits the possibility of grafting multiple osseous defects in a single procedure.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a syringe wherein the barrel is composed of delrin or a delrin-type material such that there is no chance of the device breaking while placed in an osseous defect and contaminating the graft site with glass fragments as is possible with glass syringes. Furthermore, since all components are made of delrin or flexible materials, the possibility of contaminating the implant substance with frictional debris from the syringe itself is reduced.
Still another object is to provide an osseous implant syringe that is autoclavable and thereby reusable, thereby permitting the surgeon to purchase synthetic osseous implant substances in bulk, load the barrels of the syringes according to the volume needed in each surgical procedure, and thus eliminate the waste inherent in fully pre-loaded syringes.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.